Biology subjects

Mione, V.

Publications and source records attributed to Mione, V..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Cognitive control networks in human and macaque

A much-replicated finding in human brain imaging is a distributed 'multiple-demand' or MD system, increasing in activity for many kinds of cognitive demand, and centrally involved in cognitive control. MD regions are proposed to encode a distributed mental model of critical task events, bound together in the roles and relationships needed to direct action selection. Though previous data hint at a corresponding network in the macaque, there has been no direct comparison to human data. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure whole brain activation in a multi-step saccadic maze task, compared to a control requiring similar moves but without goal-based decisions. Human data were a close match to the canonical MD network, extended to include adjacent regions and in particular much of the canonical dorsal attention network. Data from two monkeys suggested correspondences in dorsomedial frontal, insula/orbitofrontal and posterior temporal cortex. In lateral frontal cortex there was just a single, largely dorsal activation patch, in contrast to multiple distinct human patches. In one animal, as in human, there was accompanying activation of dorsal and medial parietal cortex. In macaque as in human, together with previous data, our findings suggest an extended and strongly interconnected brain network recruited by increased cognitive challenge.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Neural dynamics of an extended frontal lobe network in goal-subgoal problem solving

In goal-directed behavior, cognitive control calls for representation of current state, goal state, and current move, often with hierarchical organization into a series of steps or subgoals. In the human brain, a network of multiple-demand or MD regions underpins cognitive control, and core task features are likely encoded and integrated across this distributed network. Here we recorded from four putative homologs to human MD regions in the frontal cortex -- ventrolateral (vlPFC), dorsomedial (dmPFC), dorsal premotor (dPM) and anterior insula/orbitofrontal (I/O) cortex -- as two male monkeys solved a multi-step, on-screen spatial maze. Across regions there was substantial overlap but also wide quantitative variation in encoding task variables. Sensory input and current state were strongly coded in vlPFC, goal most stably in dmPFC, and move most rapidly in vlPFC and dPM. I/O responded during revision of a prepared route. In all regions, an abstract code of problem structure marked progress from problem start to end, with hierarchical separation of progress within and between successive steps. Partial specialisations, we suggest, arise from distinct connectivity, while broad co-recruitment reflects strong information exchange. Our results show how core components of goal-directed behavior are encoded across a distributed network of partial frontal lobe specialists, putatively homologous to frontal components of the human MD system.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Different contribution of the monkey prefrontal and premotor dorsal cortex in decision-making supported by inferential reasoning

Several studies have reported similar neural modulations between brain areas of the frontal cortex, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) and the premotor dorsal (PMd) cortex, in tasks requiring encoding of the abstract rules for selecting the proper action. Here we compared the neuronal modulation of the DLPFC and PMd of monkeys trained to choose the higher rank from a pair of abstract images (target item), selected from an arbitrarily rank-ordered set (A>B>C>D>E>F) in the context of a transitive inference task. Once acquired by trial-and-error, the ordinal relationship between pairs of adjacent images (i.e., A>B; B>C; C>D; D>E; E>F), monkeys were tested in indicating the ordinal relation between items of the list not paired during learning. During these decisions, we observed that the choice accuracy increased and the reaction time decreased as the rank difference between the compared items enhanced. This result is in line with the hypothesis that after learning, the monkeys built an abstract mental representation of the ranked items, where rank comparisons correspond to the items position comparison on this representation. In both brain areas, we observed higher neuronal activity when the target item appeared in a specific location on the screen with respect to the opposite position and that this difference was particularly enhanced at lower degrees of difficulty. By comparing the time evolution of the activity of the two areas, we observed that the neural encoding of target item spatial position occurred earlier in the DLPFC than in the PMd.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

Neuronal population dynamics during motor plan cancellation in non-human primates

To understand the cortical neuronal dynamics behind movement generation and control most studies focused on tasks where actions were planned and then executed, using different instances of visuomotor transformations. However, to fully understand the dynamics related to movement control one must also study how movements are actively inhibited. Inhibition, indeed, represents the first level of control both when different alternatives are available and only one solution could be adopted, and when it is necessary to maintain the current position. We recorded neuronal activity from a multielectrode array in the dorsal premotor (PMd) cortex of monkeys performing a countermanding reaching task that requires, in a subset of trials, to cancel a planned movement before its onset. In the analysis of the neuronal state-space of PMd we found a subspace in which activities conveying temporal information were confined during active inhibition and position holding. Movement execution required activities to escape from this subspace toward an orthogonal subspace and, furthermore, surpass a threshold associated with the maturation of the motor plan. These results revealed further details in the neuronal dynamics underlying movement control, extending the hypothesis that neuronal computation confined in an output-null subspace does not produce movements. Significance StatementA core question in neuroscience is how the brain generates arm movements. Most studies have approached this issue by investigating the neuronal dynamics that accompany movement production, leaving unanswered the question of which aspects of this dynamics are logically necessary to make the movement. Here we explored this topic by characterizing the neuronal correlates of movement decisions between active inhibition and release of movements. We found that active inhibition and stillness require neuronal signals to be confined in a functional sub-space while actions depend on the transit of activities in an orthogonal space. This dynamics is characterized by a threshold mechanism finally allowing the translation of the motor plan into overt action.

neuroscience↗